Torak
is a young boy and the main character in the Chronicles of Ancient Darkness series. Curiously, the word "Torak" means "Perfect" in the language of the Inuits who live in Greenland. Michelle Paver herself found out after she wrote the series. An aquaintance of her from Greenland interpreted it like this: "You were an Inuit in a previous life". Appearance Torak is average in terms of height but is slim with an average strength, until Outcast when Renn noted that he had become tall and fierce. He looked a lot like his father with long dark hair and light grey eyes. Renn mentions several times that he has a wolfish grin. Personality Torak is loyal and brave, but can be very serious at times and is sometimes playful. However, his loyalty and emotions towards others can cause him to be serious and wanting to be alone, often putting his life and that of others in danger as he doesn't think things through and often fails to listen to advice given to him. As a result of growing up away from most of the clans, he often feels left out or different, though when isolated he longs for companionship. He is a very good at hunting especially tracking: he learned tracking from his father, the Wolf Clan Mage. Skills Torak has many skills, some such as basic survival skills are common in the forest (though he has developed more than most because of his ability to talk to wolves, although before his father's death, was very dependent on him). Others, such as Spirit Walking are extremely rare. Torak can speak wolf, which means he has the ability to talk to wolves through signs and howling. As mentioned before he can Spirit Walk, which is the ability to see and feel everything around you through another living thing's body while keeping your own mind. Torak is also a confident tracker an incredably good skill to have when hunting, making him an extremly confident and guifted hunter. He also has some experience in healing and herb law, is proficient at archery, fletching, building shelters and good survival skills. He can also swim very well, but doesn't have as much talents as everyone else because of never learning things as he and his father are hiding from all the clans in the forest, living on their own. Background He was born in the Deep Forest, away from the Clans. His mother was from the Red Deer Clan and his father was the Wolf Clan Mage. His mother died when he was three months old and his father was unable to look after him at that time. Instead of killing him he left him in a wolf den with a family of wolves where Torak stayed for three months. During this time he learned to speak wolf. After this his father collected him and raised him. He did so away from the clans, in order to protect Torak. However, when Torak was seven Summers (years) old, his father revealed his existance to Saeunn, the Raven Clan Mage at a clan meet by the sea. During the time Torak spent with his father he was taught many skills such as hunting and respect for the forest, he even tattooed him with Wolf Clan tattoos,although when his mother died he was declared clanless. When Torak's father was killed by the Demon Bear, Torak swore revenge. His father made him swear an oath to travel to the Mountain of World Spirit. On Torak's father's side his grandfather was Wolf Clan and his grandmother was Seal Clan. They had two children-Torak's Fa and Tenris, the Seal Mage. On Torak's mother's side his grandfather was Oak Clan and his grandmother was Red Deer Clan. They had one child, who was Torak's Mother. This means he is kin to Thiazzi the Oak Mage and strongest man in the forest and 2nd to last soul eater, Torak fights Thiazzi in the 3rd book and the 5th book. Story Wolf Brother This is the first book in the series. It describes the journey to the Mountain of the World Spirit with twelve years old Torak. In the beginning of the book, Torak's Fa dies by a demon bear. Torak swore to his father to ask for the Mountain of World Spirit's help destroying the demon bear or die trying to. On the way, he befriends a wolf cub (Wolf), who becomes both his guide and pack-brother. Torak and Wolf are captured by the Raven Clan, where he discovers his father's dark past. To seek the help of the World Spirit, he must collect three parts of The Nanuak, which puts himself, Wolf, and Renn in unimaginable danger... all this while being hunted down by Renn's older brother Hord, the strongest young man of the Ravens, who seeks to kill Torak and give his hearts blood to the World Spirit, save the Forest and get the praise. Spirit Walker When a mysterious illness threatens to wipe out the clans, Torak embarks on a journey alone to find a cure. However, he is taken captive by Bale of the Seal Clan. He is taken to the Seal Clan's island where he encounters the Seal Mage, Tenris, who promises to help him make a cure if he obtains the ingredients. Torak agrees and with help from Bale, he successfully gets the ingredients. During his time on the Seal island he discovers he is a Spirit Walker and can enter the bodies of other creatures while keeping his own thoughts. Meanwhile, Wolf and Renn, who were stalking Torak, begin to search for him only to discover that it is a trap and the Seal Mage is the one who is causing the illness by poisoning the berries. With help from Renn, Wolf, and Bale (and a narrow escape in which he is saved by Renn), Torak defeats the mage and warns the others about the berries. Soul Eater When Wolf is captured by the Soul Eaters, Torak followed the tracks to the north in an attempt to rescue him, while Renn stalked him. They find the White Fox Clan, who provide them with shelter, food, and clothes. The White Fox Clan warns him to turn back. Ignoring the advice, Torak finds the Soul Eaters hideout where he discovers the Soul Eaters plan to unleash demons on the world by sacrificing hunters-predators of the world-and they plan to control the demons with a Fire Opal. Torak eventually rescues Wolf and escapes. Renn, meanwhile, finds she has the fire opal and realizes she has only one life to give it: her own. Nef, one of the soul eaters, grabs the opal from her and sacrifices herself just before Renn is going to jump into a stone chasm. Both escape with Wolf, but the Soul Eaters mark Torak against his will as one of them. Outcast When the Soul-Eater tattoo is revieled, he is declared outcast by the clans, and is sent into hiding for if anyone sees him, they will have to kill him. Seshru, The Viper Mage finds out and is on the search for him in an attempt to control his powers. Bale and Renn set out on a journey to help Torak and persuade the clans he is innocent, a feat that could mean their lives. Bale and Renn argue at first and do not get along-- mostly because Bale is used to more sedentary women at home, and Renn, being fiery, headstrong and capable of hunting and fighting herself, is quite a change for him. Renn, meanwhile, struggles to deal with Bale's prejudices against her and finally both come to the realization that to finish the quest, they both depend on each other. The Viper Mage tells Torak on the island on which he becomes washed up on that Renn is actually her daughter and Torak refuses to talk with either Renn and Bale until they compromise to help each other. When all three of them return to the Forest they find themselves hunted. Fin-Kedinn makes Torak his son and they use the ancient ritual of sharing blood. Then Torak, unexpectedly, gives the viper mage the opal that she wants. The audience soon realize his aim when Renn aims at her own mother, the viper mage, with her bow since the destruction of a piece of opal requires a sacrificed life with it. Bale undestands that killing her mother will taint her soul and kills her himself. Torak is no longer declared clanless and soon finds out that his mother declared him clanless before she died. The Outcast tattoo is then altered by Fin-Kedinn to say even though his is clanless, he is part of all clans. Oath Breaker Enraged by the death of his kinsman Bale, Torak heads out with Renn to track down Bales killer - Thiazzi, one of the seven soul eaters. His search leads him to the deep forest. He swore an oath to kill Thiazzi, and he discovers Thiazzi's plot to control the deep forest clans, unite them and wage war against the Open Forest. It is up to Torak alone to use all his will to stop this brewing war, with the help of Renn, will he suceed in stopping the war? Or shall he endanger the lives of his friends to avenge his Kinsman? He and Renn are separated, while Wolf struggles to come to terms with the fact that Torak is "not-wolf," which devastates him. Renn attempts to fight Thiazzi, but Thiazzi, the huge and dangerous Oak Mage overcomes her and ties her up inside a hollow tree. As smoke chokes her, she cuts herself free on the tip of a knife and climbs to the top, where she aids Torak in getting rid of Thiazzi. Ghost Hunter At the age of 15 summers old Torak's only foe is the last soul eater, Eostra the Eagle Owl Mage. Torak, Wolf and Renn make their ascent on the mountain of ghosts. They brave hordes of Tokoroths, packs of demon dogs and the merciless winter ice. Torak uses all his knowlege, all his skill in hope of defeating his foe. But, the prophecy does not tell of his victory. Renn, who was left behind, struggles to catch up with him and help, and does so with the assistance of a strange, ghostly boy named Dark. Renn must also decide whether she wishes to take the path of a mage. Relationships Father Torak is very loyal to his father, which is no great surprise as he grew up with him away from the clans in the wild. It broke his heart when he had to draw the Death Marks upon his father. He takes great pride in his father and his father's knife. The entire first book details his loyalty towards his father as he tracks down the Demon Bear which killed him. He does not allow the memories of his father to be tainted when he discovers of his past with the soul eaters. Mother Torak has no memory of his mother as she died three months after he was born and his father refused to speak of her, as it saddened him. So for much of his life she was merely the woman who had made his medicine pouch and who later declared him clanless. She only became more real to Torak when Fin-Kedinn told Torak that he is like her in many ways and reassures him of her love for him. Fin-Kedinn also reveals that he loved Torak's mother as any man loves his mate but she chose his father. This made him bitter and he refused to help Torak's father, who was once his best friend, to hide from the soul-eaters. Tracking was his mother's skill which she taught Torak's Fa, who later taught Torak. Oslak When Torak first entered the Raven Clan camp, it was Oslak who took him in and shared his home with Torak. He was generous and kind to him, traits which Torak greatly admired in the man. When Oslak became ill, Torak tried unsuccessfully to help him, Oslak later dying. Torak, torn by guilt, vows to find a cure to the mysterious illness. Even though he had only known the man for several months, he clearly felt a strong bond with the man and was greatly influenced by him. Renn Torak and Renn have a mixed relationship.It seems that they like each other alot inside by the end of wolf brother but at first they hated each other and were suspicious of one another, but then Renn helped him. Renn is Torak's best friend and they fight all the Soul Eaters together. They care about each other deeply and would do anything to protect each other. Although Torak never really shows that he likes Renn, he says that she is a good pack-sister. Renn is also known as Torak's pack-sister and he, Wolf, and Renn are together most in the series. Renn mentioned a few times that Torak was handsome and that he was tall and fierce. While Torak finds himself naive and confused as his feelings for Renn develop. At times she is impatient, as she and Torak disagree on a plan. Still, they've hugged once and they kissed in the book Ghost Hunter. Renn had even kissed him on the jaw in Oath Breaker. Also in Ghost Hunter, Torak admits that he likes Renn a lot when Dark asks him. They make a strong pair and together they save the world from the dangerous, cruel, and menacing Soul Eaters. The characters that they have is amazingly strong which helps them to battle the Soul Eaters. At the end of Ghost Hunter, Torak decides to leave the Clans to return to the life he knew with his father, in which Renn also decides to follow Torak and with her uncle's blessing, they depart with Wolf, Pebble and Darkfur. Bale Bale was Torak's only living relative and one of his closest friends in the series. Torak's grandmother was Seal Clan making Bale his cousin. Depsite this the two disliked each other upon first meeting and Torak was reluctant to befriend him. Circumstances however forced the two to work together and they ended up with a good relationship. Torak found Bale to be a good companion and a loyal friend despite their beginning, this is proven when Bale travles up the crag to retrieve Torak's knife in Spirit Walker and when he comes to help him in Outcast. In Outcast he comes up with a plan to get Torak back into the Clans, again showing his close friendship with him. However, Bale fell in love with Renn. In the book Oath Breaker, Bale asks Torak about what he thinks if Renn stay with him at Sea when he head back to the forest. Torak answers to Bale that he didn't care and it was up to Renn herself. As Bale keeps pressing the matter into Torak and insists for an answer, Torak storms off and left Bale on his own. Bale later dies, though not at the hands of Torak, but the Oak Mage, Thiazzi, who had killed Bale when he was alone. Bale was at first condescending to Renn and then developed respect for her strength and determination, and ultimately he fell deeply in love with her, but Renn showed more love for Torak in the end. Fin-Kedinn Throughout the series Fin-Kedinn acts much as one would expect of a foster father, he gives Torak advice on the issues facing him and he is always there to help him when needed. As one would expect, Torak has great admiration for him and respects him and he feels honored when Fin-Kedinn fosters him. However, Torak never could read Fin-Kedinn's character as Fin-Kedinn had always hidden it with his unread expression. He's sometimes unsure of what the man thinks of him and doubts his feelings. In the end however, Fin-Kedinn embraced Torak as his foster son and made him promise after he told him that he and Renn were leaving the Clans that they would return one day to celebrate with him and the Ravens. Wolf Like many others whom he meets in the series, Torak initially disliked Wolf when the two first met. However Torak grew fond of the cub and raised him. Wolf is often described as his guide and as his wolf/pack brother. He is dedicated and loyal towards Wolf and is very protective of him, perhaps more so than anyone else.Torak can communicate with Wolf in wolf-talk (howls and body language).Wolf and Torak are like brothers and are each other's pack-brother. Wolf is the most important thing in the world to Torak, besides Renn. They look out for each other and have an extremely strong bond.Wolf helped Torak get through his fa's death and Torak helped Wolf get through his pack's death and cared for Wolf when he was a cub. Wolf protects Torak from dangers that he doesn't hear or notice. When Wolf or Torak are in danger, they can howl to each other in their heads. When Wolf is being Torak's guide he has a strange knowledge about him. They are allways connected and will allways be pack-brothers. Wolf states that Torak's purpose is to fight Bad Taillesses and Wolf's purpose is to chase demons. Together they fight the evil, along with Renn. Even after he developed a strong love for Torak, he hated Renn in the first book, though he admitted she was "clever and smart." In the second book he is wary and distrustful, but through the rest of the books they become friends based on respect. At the end of Ghost Hunter, Wolf manages to guide Torak's soul back into his body and thus basically bringing him back from the dead. Rip and Rek These two ravens befriended Torak after a storm where he cared for them. They were sent by Renn via her doing a dangerous experiment with magecraft to help him recover from his soul sickness. Unlike most ravens Rip and Rek don't mind humans and enjoy playing tricks on humans and animals alike. Torak doesn't mind and enjoys the raven's company, though he tends to avoid making a fuss over them when Wolf or Renn are around, in case Wolf gets envious. Category:Outcasts